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Funhouse in the middle of nowhere: Olmaroroi House

A great Airbnb house in Kajiado county, very short drive from Nairobi

During this quarantine, we were careful not to do anything illegal for a very long time. Basically we never tried to pass the roadblocks since there is a travel ban among counties and we respect the rules. However, towards the end of the travel ban, with some friends, we just rented a great house for the weekend and it was very very near the roadblock, but just on the wrong side of it.


On travel magazines such as Conde Nast Traveler, I see some articles about “amazing” Airbnb houses and I really think that this house could be one of those on CN Traveler. However, Kenya and specifically this location in Kenya is not popular enough to get on those lists. So, to my limited audience, I like to tell you about this beautiful house.

It all started with the idea of having a special birthday plan for a friend. We ended up renting the Olmaroroi House not being very aware that it is outside the Nairobi county. However, the owner said that there is another way to reach there. So we took that off-road route to the house. The minimum length of stay is 2 nights, we booked from Friday to Sunday. No regrets, it was a great getaway.

This house was built very recently, I believe it was completed in August 2019 or something like that. They rent it via Airbnb. Weekdays and weekends have different rates. As we stayed over the weekends, it was 50,000 KES per night for the full house. For a group of 10, this means 5,000 KES per person which approximately is 50 USD. So not a bad deal at all. We only occupied the house but there is also a luxury tent if you are more than 10 people by the way. Including to this fee, there is housekeeping services and a cook. Though, you need to bring your groceries and drinks. This housekeeping/kitchen team is actually a couple Frida & Claus, very lovely. Frida’s cooking was terrific. We prepared the menu for her to follow, and whatever she prepared was delicious.

The house is in a secured area that belongs to the owners. There is a security door that you enter the land of the house, and there are security guards that patrol the land all day long. So no reason to feel anxious about safety.

The house is on top of the hill and it has an amazing view of the Rift Valley. It’s a two-story Lamu style huge house. On the ground floor, there is a big living room with a chimney and a very comfortable couch, also many entertaining games such as backgammon, billard, and some other board games. There is also a pingpong table and darts in the outside area. The kitchen is spacious and nicely designed for guests who want to cook for themselves. Right outside of the living room, there is the patio again with comfortable seating and dining areas. The pool is not huge but enough to refresh and have fun. The only downside of the pool is that it was too cold. I thought that it is supposed to be a solar-heated pool but unfortunately, it was not heated. Though, we did not really ask if we had the option. On the first floor, there are four en suite bedrooms, all very spacious and nicely decorated. I love the simplicity and this house matches these criteria. The mattresses were very comfortable and the curtains blackout the room nicely for the ones who cannot sleep in bright places.

Besides the house itself, there is an extra luxury tent for bigger groups than 10. And it is possible to have a walk in the area if you do not want to spend all your day enjoying the house.

One thing to improve by the owners could be providing the toiletry. After all, with all the comfort provided, I think it would complement the luxury feeling of this beautiful house.

Overall, it was a great short vacation that made me feel really on holiday even though it was only an hour's drive away from my home. I would gladly go back again sometime.

Here is the Airbnb link to the house if you like to check it out.


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